Doug Beck

Douglas Beck is the director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and senior advisor to the secretary of defense. In this role, Beck oversees efforts to accelerate the department’s adoption of commercial technology throughout the military, and he also serves as a senior adviser to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense on technology innovation, competition and strategic impact. Prior to joining DIU, he was a vice president at Apple, reporting directly to its CEO, Tim Cook, from 2009 to 2023. At Apple, he jointly led the worldwide business development and sales functions and led the company’s businesses across Northeast Asia and the Americas. As a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the Asia-Pacific region over 26 years of service. Beck holds a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) from Yale University and a master’s degree in international relations from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.